Slow Cooker Lasagna

A super thick and cheesy Lasagna made in the crock pot makes a hearty family meal with a minimum amount of effort. This is one of the easiest lasagna recipes ever and it is the only lasagna I ever cook in the crock pot. Slow Cooker Lasagna is so perfect, as much as I love to try new recipes, I can’t bring myself to try another slow cooker lasagna.

Want to hear something sad? My Dad and oldest brother don’t eat cheese!  They wont touch it. No cheddar, no mozzarella, no parmesan…nothing! How can you live a life without cheese??!

That means that Lasagna, one of the most delicious meals of all time, was a rare specialty at our house.  Whenever my mom would make it, (usually when Dad was out of town) the rest of us would be SO excited! It was gobbled up in minutes!

You probably don’t believe that lasagna cooked in a crock pot can be better than one baked in the oven. I was completely skeptical too.

Two pounds of Italian sausage and plenty of gooey cheese make this a lasagna to be reckoned with. Just 4 hours in the crock pot, plus a quick broil to melt the cheese is all it takes. You do have to brown the sausage beforehand, but it only takes a few minutes.

She’d typically make this Classic Italian Lasagna recipe. It’s a totally authentic lasagna that uses a simple béchamel white sauce instead of ricotta cheese or cottage cheese. It’s amazing, but takes a little bit of prep and work.

Now that I have a family of my own I’m always looking for ways easy meals or meals I can prep in advance or throw in my crock pot.

This slow cooker lasagna is a WINNER!  All of the time consuming parts of lasagna–the many dishes and all the prep, are taken away.

I love that this recipe doesn’t even require you to cook the lasagna noodles before hand. You can use regular lasagna noodles, and then just layer the sauce, noodles and cheese.  Lasagna takes about about 4-5 hours to cook on low.  If you are really in a rush, you could could slow cooker lasagna on high and it would be done in about half the time!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 6 cups marinara sauce (or two bottles of pasta sauce with two added cups of water)
• 1 box lasagna noodles don't use the no-boil variety
• 8 ounces ricotta cheese
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
• 6 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

1. In a large dutch oven or saucepan, brown the beef well on medium high heat, breaking it apart into small crumbles.
2. Drain the fat from the pan.
3. Add in the basil, oregano, fennel seeds, Kosher salt and crushed red pepper flakes and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
4. Add in the marinara sauce and stir to combine.
5. Add enough sauce to cover the bottom of the slow cooker.
6. Into your slow cooker evenly layer in the following order (take care to make sure the layers are as flat as possible):
7. Lasagna noodles broken to fit the shape of your slow cooker (a little overlap is totally fine here).
8. Spoon a third of the meat sauce.
9. Add a third of the ricotta in small spoonfuls along with a third of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
10. You will likely have some noodles left over, using them all in the slow cooker would be difficult.
11. If your liquids are not fully covering the noodles, add more water to just cover them.
12. Cook on low heat for 5-6 hours or on high heat for 3-4 hours.
13. If you want the slices to come out clean, as with any lasagna you would have to wait 15-20 minutes for it to cool a bit.